Novel biotechnological glucosylation of high-impact aroma chemicals, 3(2H)- and 2(5H)-furanones

Sci Rep. 2019 Jul 29;9(1):10943. doi: 10.1038/s41598-019-47514-9.

Abstract

Glucosyltransferases are versatile biocatalysts to chemically modify small molecules and thus enhance their water solubility and structural stability. Although the genomes of all organisms harbor a multitude of glucosyltransferase genes, their functional characterization is hampered by the lack of high-throughput in-vivo systems to rapidly test the versatility of the encoded proteins. We have developed and applied a high-throughput whole cell biotransformation system to screen a plant glucosyltransferase library. As proof of principle, we identified 25, 24, 15, and 18 biocatalysts transferring D-glucose to sotolone, maple furanone, furaneol and homofuraneol, four highly appreciated flavor compounds, respectively. Although these 3(2H)- and 2(5H)-furanones have extremely low odor thresholds their glucosides were odorless. Upscaling of the biotechnological process yielded titers of 5.3 and 7.2 g/L for the new to nature β-D-glucopyranosides of sotolone and maple furanone, respectively. Consequently, plant glucosyltransferase show stunning catalytic activities, which enable the economical production of novel and unexplored chemicals with exciting new functionalities by whole-cell biotransformation.

Publication types

  • Research Support, Non-U.S. Gov't

MeSH terms

  • Biocatalysis
  • Biotransformation
  • Escherichia coli
  • Furans / chemistry*
  • Glucosides / chemistry
  • Glucosides / metabolism
  • Glucosyltransferases / metabolism*
  • Odorants*
  • Plant Proteins / metabolism*

Substances

  • Furans
  • Glucosides
  • Plant Proteins
  • Glucosyltransferases